


Of Lilies and Petunias

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-10
Updated: 2008-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-19 10:49:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12408915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: Lily receives a letter offering her a place at Hogwarts. Petunia sees this as a separation- Lily is special and she is not.





	Of Lilies and Petunias

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**I suppose this is a little AU. I think Lily knew about being a witch before her letter arrives (am I right? Correct me if I’m wrong). But this is a different version. And please forgive me the strange address and complete ignorance about owls ( _do_ they fly about during the daytime? The only owl I’ve ever seen is the one that sleeps in a tree at my school). And I changed one of Dumbledore’s titles. I’m feeling he got his First Class Order of Merlin after the time Lily and James were starting school. If that peeves you let me know. If anything peeves you let me know. If _nothing_ peeves, I’d like you especially to let me know. Reviews are remarkable things, my friends.**

**_DISCLAIMER: My name is J.K. Rowling. I am supremely rich and am author of the Harry Potter books. Which is why I am writing on a fanfiction website, and not receiving any money for my story whatsoever._ **

****

**_Nooooooooot. I don’t own anything, other than my storyline (which, in fact, is really J.K. Rowling’s, just elaborated upon by me. And Lily’s address is also mine, along with the type of owl sent. So don’t steal my words, folks. Ta.)_ **

My sister is a witch. 

And after reading that, you’re probably thinking one of two things;

a) _That’s a bit mean, isn’t it?_

Or,

b) _Ha. Yeah right._

I am serious. My sister is a witch. As in, hocus-pocus, abracadabra, wave a magic wand witch, with a pointed hat. Only I’m not sure if she has a pointed hat, but she probably does.

She found out when I was twelve, on her eleventh birthday.

We were having breakfast, Lily and I. We’d given out presents, and mum had gone to the shops and dad left for work. It was just us. 

There was a tapping noise at the window and on the window sill outside sat a huge grey owl, like the ones you see if you go quietly around our neighbourhood at night. 

I nearly wet myself. 

Who expects to see an owl flying about wide awake during the daytime? And this one was tapping on our window. I mean, really. 

Lily stood up to open the window. 

_“Lily! What are you doing?”_

She looked over her shoulder.

_“It’s just an owl, Tuney. It’s not like it’s going to hurt us. Anyway, look, it’s got a letter tied to its leg.”_

Sure enough, the owl did have an envelope tied to its left leg, addressed in green ink and attached with a piece of twine.

_“So? Lily, look how big it is. It might... swoop at us, or something.”_

_“Don’t be such a scaredy-cat.”_

Lily opened the window and the animal stepped in. Its yellow eyes were calculating, looking at me first, and then Lily. It stuck its leg out at Lily, and then nonchalantly turned its head around, staring at me. If I hadn’t been so frightened, I might have laughed. There was this bird, a wild animal, stepping in and just sticking its leg out at my sister, just expecting her to untie the letter- of all things- attached to its leg. The picture was laughable. And real.

_“Look, Tuney! It’s addressed to me! And listen:_

Miss L. Evans

The Kitchen

54 Everett Place

Essex _”_

Lily looked at the owl in awe. _“Whoever sent this even knew I’d be in the kitchen!”_

I raised an eyebrow. 

_“That’s a bit creepy, Lily. It’s probably a prank letter from that horrid little boy from down the road.”_

_“Severus? Don’t be mean, Petunia. You’re such a snob, and you think Severus is so beneath you.”_

I sniffed. Severus _was_ beneath me; he was poor and greasy, and just _looked_ like a misfit.

_“Well, he’s a horrible little boy. And I don’t think he’s ever washed his hair in his life.”_

Lily ignored the insult. She was always such a saint.

_“Well, aren’t you going to open it?”_

I tried to sound uninterested, but the envelope looked enticing; the edges were slightly yellowed, as if it had been made to look like it was ancient, like the spidery, eloquent handwriting of the address. 

Lily turned the envelope over and gently, almost reverently, began to lift the flap.

The paper inside looked thick and smooth, and was the same yellowy tinge as the envelope.

_“It’s not paper, Tuney. It’s... like skin. I think it’s parchment.”_

She read the letter, her eyes widening and mouth dropping.

_“Tuney, I’m a... a witch!”_

I snorted, doing my best ‘yeah right’ face. 

_“Where are we,_ _Salem_ _?”_

I was super-pleased with my historic reference. And I certainly didn’t believe the letter. Lily shoved it in front of me.

_“_ HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY, _”_ the letter began, _“_ Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, Second Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Evans, 

            We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of necessary books and equipment.

            Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall 

Deputy Headmistress _”_

I’d like to say that I laughed it all off as a joke and still didn’t believe that my sister was a witch, but I didn’t laugh it off. And I did. Believe, that is. 

_“Well, that’s weird.”_

_“Tuney, I’m going to a magic school. I’m going away.”_

She stopped smiling.

_“Tuney, I’m going to miss you.”_

I suppose that was when I grasped the fact that my sister was special and I wasn’t. It was an odd feeling, really. There was a tingling in my abdomen and I got so angry, I wanted to hurt her, but I didn’t. I sat at the table and fumed. Because I knew it was true, she was going away and I wasn’t. 

She had been marked out to be special. 

And I hadn’t.

I dug my nails into my palms and stared at the lacy pattern of the tablecloth. 

_“Tuney? What’s wrong?”_

_“Nothing, Lily. Keep that owl there until mum gets home, and you can send your reply.”_

Mum was sceptical at first, like she should have been. She wanted to see the letter, the envelope, the owl, the letter again, and the envelope. She sat down for a while, thinking.

_“Well, it can’t hurt to send a reply.”_

I suppose it was pathetic, but I was jealous. While Lily was waiting with baited breath for mum to come home, I’d written a pleading letter to the headmaster of the school. I told him that there must have been a mistake; I’d just been missed by the system. I asked him to send a letter to me, and a supplies list, and I’d send an owl back accepting the offer of a place at his school. I begged and beseeched and demanded, desperately hoping he’d reconsider. 

I told Lily I’d attach her letter of acceptance to the owl. She didn’t mind, she was practically bouncing off the walls, chattering to mum, calling dad, reading the list. I tied Lily’s letter on half heartedly, hoping that the weak knot would give way during the flight, losing the letter and when she turned up on September 1st they wouldn’t let her in. My letter, however, I tied extra well. There was no way that it wasn’t going to make it.

The reply came a day or two later. It was kind, a little patronizing and quite sympathetic. It explained that, although Hogwarts would very much like to accept me (yeah, right, the sincerity is killing me), they have a limited number of spots and therefore can only accept those with magical abilities. 

I was furious. 

Next time Lily mentioned something about her _abilities_ , I wasn’t kind.

_“Like I’d want to go to a school with freaks.”_

_“I’m not a freak. That’s a horrible thing to say.”_

_“That’s where you’re going. A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy... weirdos, that’s what you are.”_


End file.
